The .Plan

During 7 years of bliss in a 1100 square foot apartment all to my own, I have accumulated quite a lot of paper. Today I bound some 150 pounds of medical, economic, and policy journals together with twine, and tomorrow I will schlep all of that down 4 flights of stairs to put out for the garbage collectors. I also have 8 banker’s boxes full of journal articles that will also go out with the trash. Somewhere out there in the world is a forest missing its trees.

Unfortunately, one can’t just toss 7 years’ worth of medical, electric, credit card, phone, and gas bills into the trash. Maybe one credit card statement here and there. But certainly not 7 years’ worth. So I purchased the Staples Light-Duty Paper Shredder [SPL-616X] — a steal at $20 (after a $20 rebate), although you get what you pay for. It is rated for 6 pages up to 25 times per day, but I have been taxing it to its limits. So far I’ve got 5 Glad bags full of shredded paper, and the paper shredder is starting to make creaking noises. I have been meticulously lubricating the blades every 10 uses, but that may not be doing much to prolong the life of my shredder. This particular model is kind of annoying because the blades never fully eject all of the paper. So when you take off the top to empty the wastebasket, you invariably get little bits of paper all over the floor. But for $20, I can’t complain.

I am never going to make the mistake of accumulating this much junk again.

Cooling soup prior to refrigeration has always been my standard practice, but I never knew if there were other reasons beyond trying to avoid creating an ideal growth medium for bacteria.

Placing the soup in a covered container on a refrigerator shelf allows the outside to cool, but the interior remains hot for hours, which can cause souring. In addition, the hot soup will heat up everything around it. Considering that raising the temperature of dairy products even a degree or two significantly shortens their shelf life, precooling makes sense. It is best to drop the temperature to 70 degrees or below within two hours, then refrigerate at 40 degrees or less, or freeze the soup.
–Peter Kelly, “Ask the Cook” column, Boston Globe Magazine, April 30, 2006

Quote courtesy of Professor Choi:

…[M]ost people think they will regret foolish actions more than foolish inactions. But studies also show that nine out of ten people are wrong. Indeed, in the long run, people of every age and in every walk of life seem to regret not having done things much more than they regret things they did, which is why the most popular regrets include not going to college, not grasping profitable business opportunities, and not spending enough time with family and friends.
–Dan Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness

This brings to mind Russell Peters. Too bad I’m not going to be in Portland on June 3. Otherwise, I’d go see see his stand-up routine at the Crystal Ballroom!